S04.E07: And the Disenchanted Forest

[formerlyfreedom]

When dissension threatens the group, Baird takes the Librarians to a charismatic self-help guru’s team building camp on the edge of a forest where people have been mysteriously disappearing. Is there a monster in the woods? Or is something more sinister going on? And can the Librarians get their team mojo back in time to defeat it?

[johntfs]

I loved Cassandra as the kind of super-enthused camper who makes other people wish that Jason Vorhees would show up.

[Ipse Dixit]

Fun!

Although I was hyperventilating at the thought that they were writing the cowboy  guy off as a Tree. 

I hope Sarina comes back — don’t see how she can’t.  

Also: immortality for Jenkins!!!!

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, johntfs said:

I loved Cassandra as the kind of super-enthused camper who makes other people wish that Jason Vorhees would show up.

Now that you put it that way, I can enjoy the thought of her schtick more. :)

I enjoyed this episode a lot. I liked the story of the forest, and liked that the likely bad guy turned out not to be the bad guy.

It was pretty much all kinds of win, in my book. No Flynn, a sick Jenkins (what's up with poop -LOL). Pretty much everyone had good stories and both funny and serious moments. The guest characters were engaging - and I too hope Sarina comes back.

I kind of wanted to find out what happened with the 19th century explorers and the conquistador.

Gosh, I'm gushing. This show put me in a really good mood this morning (especially that thanks to @johntfs I can spin Cassandra's camper spirit into something fun). 

Been on a few team building exercises (not camps though) and I'm more team Ezekiel when it comes to them.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Clanstarling

[libgirl2]

12 hours ago, johntfs said:

I loved Cassandra as the kind of super-enthused camper who makes other people wish that Jason Vorhees would show up.

She was hysterical while being annoying! Cute episode... just all around fun. 

[Loandbehold]

10 hours ago, Ipse Dixit said:

Although I was hyperventilating at the thought that they were writing the cowboy  guy off as a Tree. 

Me too. After the old Librarian said that there can be only one, I thought we'd be losing a Librarian a week until Flynn returned (not a spoiler, just supposition) for the finale and realized the other three were needed to save the world.

Liked Sarina and wouldn't mind seeing her return. Enjoyed Cassandra's camp enthusiasm and always at Ezekiel's expense. Also, Ezekiel was back to being himself. I guess the Christmas episode was more of a dream and he really is the guy we saw at the beginning of the series - slowly evolving into being a better person.

[Maelstrom]

I wasn't entirely sure where this ep was going for the first half or so - there were enough similarities to previous episodes (Let's learn how to be a better team! Jake falls in love! People are disappearing and no one else thinks it's odd!) that I was worried we were in for a retread/mashup. But once they started explaining the Forest I thought it was pretty cool. I appreciated the strong characters moments such as Eve admitting to Stone she was hurt and furious at Flynn for leaving yet again, and Ezekiel telling off Cassandra about her pranks and living in the real world. And seriously, having one of the heroes save the day by communing with the ancient grandfather tree of the world's forests is a pretty damn cool thing. I should rewatch this one and pay a little closer attention this time around.

[johntfs]

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I kind of wanted to find out what happened with the 19th century explorers and the conquistador.

Figure they had the same basic story as everyone else who got grabbed.  They displayed at least a cursory attitude toward protecting nature and the trees grabbed them as a possible spokesperson.  What would be really interesting is the idea of their lives moving forward from this.

I admit I really liked this episode as a change of pace with the idea that while there were misunderstandings and interests in conflict, there wasn't really a "bad guy" per se.

[tennisgurl]

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I kind of wanted to find out what happened with the 19th century explorers and the conquistador.

 

I wondered about that too. What happens to them now, having just wondered into the 21st century after years stuck in a tree? I guess the government guys will help them acclimate to modern day? Cant just have them running around telling people that they're from the past and have been living inside of magic trees, and its not very fair to them.

I really liked this episode, it had a lot of fun (Cassandra as the annoying enthusiastic camper, Jenkins dealing with being mortal) as well as solid emotional beats (Eve trying to get over Flynn laving her, her bond with Jacob) as well as a fun adventure. I thought the magical forest was a really cool idea, and I liked how they played it, with the trees taking Stone who, as a linguist, can understand them better than anyone else they've grabbed, and passing on a message through him about taking care of the forest. There wasn't really a "villain" this week, and the whole thing was sorted out peacefully, with a cool magical pine cone. Everyone involved made bad choices, but made the right ones in the end. And Sarina was a nice one off character, I hope we can see her again. 

Flynn really pulled a dick move leaving without telling Eve he was going. I mean, I am actually glad that he is gone so they can focus more on the TV characters, but that still sucked. I mean, leaving is fine, but at least say goodbye to your girlfriend! 

[Clanstarling]

3 hours ago, johntfs said:

Figure they had the same basic story as everyone else who got grabbed.  They displayed at least a cursory attitude toward protecting nature and the trees grabbed them as a possible spokesperson.  What would be really interesting is the idea of their lives moving forward from this.

Poor writing on my part - what I meant was exactly that - what happened TO them after they came out of the trees.

[ganesh]

10 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Me too. After the old Librarian said that there can be only one, I thought we'd be losing a Librarian a week until Flynn returned (not a spoiler, just supposition) for the finale and realized the other three were needed to save the world.

That's a good counter argument too. Last season all three made the egyptian god mortal so they could kill him, while Flynn's plan was that he was going to sacrifice himself. There's been numerous examples that the library needs all of them, and I'm glad Eve flat out said that Dare was wrong. 

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

What happens to them now, having just wondered into the 21st century after years stuck in a tree? I guess the government guys will help them acclimate to modern day? Cant just have them running around telling people that they're from the past and have been living inside of magic trees, and its not very fair to them.

Maybe Area 51 has a training program where they can get some job skills. 

RR looking fine in her camp get up. #shallow.

I'm glad Eve did admit she was pissed off at Flynn. Holding it in isn't healthy. Who guards the Guardian? She needed a hug.

I was dying when the DOSA guy was ranting about Eve, "Biard wouldn't have driven into that swamp!" RR's reaction shot was a gem. 

The pranks were funny, and I totally buy Cassandra would be the one so into them. I have no idea how she drugged Jones, then dragged the mattress with him on it into the lake. They must have been cracking up filming that scene. 

I certainly like the idea of Nature being sentient, and it makes one wonder what else is around similar to the trees that might need our protection. I'm sure it was a coincidence, but the story was timely given how the president rolled back protections of the national monuments in Utah so they could be open for development. I liked that they mentioned Teddy Roosevelt too since he was the first president to establish all the national parks. 

[thuganomics85]

Team building camp!  Talk about a scenario with a lot of potential.  Liked how Cassandra used it to finally do all the classic camp staples (including childish pranks on poor Ezekiel), how Baird got really over-competitive in order to take her mind off of Flynn, and it was about that time for Jake to get his flirt on, and who better then with Dilshad Vadsaria, I guess?!  And I like that there actually wasn't a baddie, but it was that the forest was sentient, and they were actually trying to find someone to communicate with this entire time, and Jake happened to be who they needed.  I did think they let off the guru too easily though.  Even if he wasn't responsible for the disappearances, he knew something fishy was going on and kept running these camps anyway.

Oh, Jenkins.  He is learning the hard way that mortal, human life can really be a pain sometimes!

I'm curious to see how they are going to try and make Flynn not be a complete dick for what he did, because I can't see it right now.  Even if he is truly afraid that too many Librarians will cause other Dark Ages, leaving like he did without telling Baird good-bye is just low.

[Clanstarling]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I'm curious to see how they are going to try and make Flynn not be a complete dick for what he did, because I can't see it right now.  Even if he is truly afraid that too many Librarians will cause other Dark Ages, leaving like he did without telling Baird good-bye is just low.

It sounds more like the rationalization someone uses when they're doing the thing they want to do anyway and knows people are going to be upset. Make it noble and self-sacrificing. Flynn was definitely not into the tethering thing at all this season, and this gave him an out. But yeah, they'll probably do something in the finale to make it "make sense." 

[ChelseaNH]

On 1/4/2018 at 10:55 AM, Loandbehold said:

After the old Librarian said that there can be only one, I thought we'd be losing a Librarian a week

My thought: Don't draw conclusions from a sample size of 1.

[Clanstarling]

35 minutes ago, ChelseaNH said:

My thought: Don't draw conclusions from a sample size of 1.

Plus, the samples were twin brothers who were, if I recall, identical in their skills. Nothing like our team, who each have special skills and no cradle to the grave resentments (not that all twins have these, but given they went to war... )

[ganesh]

There was still plenty of interesting things going on during the Dark Ages anyway so making it out to be a time of real darkness isn't really accurate. If they said the black plague was caused by the brothers that would have been more effective. People killed cats because they thought witches caused the outbreak so you can tie that in to the bad use of magic. 

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Plus, the samples were twin brothers who were, if I recall, identical in their skills. Nothing like our team, who each have special skills and no cradle to the grave resentments (not that all twins have these, but given they went to war... )

This is the part that confuses me. The team is different. They each have their own special skills. There's no reason for them fight because their different. They solved problems by working together. Also, why don't they consider that maybe the Library realized it would be better to have more then one? People who worked together, a team, friends instead of one person on their own being a Librarian. Maybe having one wasn't a good idea because their generally on their own. Aside from Charlene, Judson and Jenkins there was really no one to talk to and hang out with or to talk to about the job. Before the job Stone, Cassandra and Eziekel were off on their own without ties. That's also been kind of Flynn's long standing issue even in the movies. The last movie he was upset over the Library ruining his relationship with his girlfriend and frustrated over working for the Library. He ends up going on vacation which changes his mind. But it also popped up in the first episode of the series Judson mentions Flynn's been alone for ten years and its effecting him. And the Librarian before him turned evil. Maybe the Library finally decided that a group working together would work better. Three people and a guardian who can talk to each other, help each other and not be alone.         

Edited January 5, 2018 by andromeda331

[snarktini]

Didn't another show do a similar tree story recently? Maybe Grimm? (And if you're into this theme, there's also a book called Uprooted by Naomi Novik.)

Thinking Serena (sp?) may be back. No way she can keep this secret! Feel like she'll boomerang.

Also wondering if there's more to Flynn's absence than we know. All that talk about mysteriously disappearing people made me wonder if it was fully voluntary...he did leave a note, so it's not like he vanished, but it doesn't seem like him to leave without some goodbye. At least to Baird. He's self-centered and self-important, but not an asshole. And he just had that whole breakthrough about being part of a team and how they're stronger together.

And he didn't say he left because of the multi-Librarian problem, did he? They're inferring a noble gesture. Gotta say, that doesn't seem likely to me either. If he felt strongly about it, I think he's more likely to have lectured about it rather than left silently. It still leaves 3 of them so it's not like he solves the problem. My read is that he is more likely to have left because of the Library's betrayal and Nicole's warning about not living his life. 

[johntfs]

I did like this episode.  It was fun, a twist of no real villain, plus we got a Dr. Seuss character's origin story.  Jake Stone is the Lorax.  He speaks for the trees.

[jbrecken]

I was distracted for the first fifteen minutes or so of this episode trying to remember the name of the guy that was being parodied - Tony Robbins.

[Clanstarling]

6 hours ago, jbrecken said:

I was distracted for the first fifteen minutes or so of this episode trying to remember the name of the guy that was being parodied - Tony Robbins.

Though this guy's much better looking, not quite as plastic.

[Sonja]

On 4.1.2018 at 5:51 AM, Ipse Dixit said:

Although I was hyperventilating at the thought that they were writing the cowboy  guy off as a Tree.

That would have been the last episode for me then.

On 4.1.2018 at 8:23 PM, tennisgurl said:

Flynn really pulled a dick move leaving without telling Eve he was going. I mean, I am actually glad that he is gone so they can focus more on the TV characters, but that still sucked. I mean, leaving is fine, but at least say goodbye to your girlfriend! 

There has been too much Flynn this season already, so I'm glad he's gone, but I'm really not looking forward to Eve forgiving him once again. I was really happy about this episode because there was more team dynamic (which is what makes the show for me), the DOSA guy's jealousy of Eve was hilarious, the motivational moron wasn't the predictable villain, etc. I was starting to wonder why the show was called 'The Librarians' in plural when they seemed to have been pushed to the background in favour of Flynn. Or maybe that's just my perception because he's ticking me off every time he appears.

On 6.1.2018 at 7:24 PM, snarktini said:

Thinking Serena (sp?) may be back. No way she can keep this secret! Feel like she'll boomerang.

Considering Miss Investigative Journalist spilled her guts to Jake about a minute after meeting him, showing her the library might not have been his smartest move. The character has potential though, so maybe they find a way to bring her back without her having endangered humanity by blabbing. I liked her.

[Cocoabean]

Good episode, I enjoyed it. Except now we've had the library exposed to two people this season...begs the question, why?

[johntfs]

37 minutes ago, Cocoabean said:

Good episode, I enjoyed it. Except now we've had the library exposed to two people this season...begs the question, why?

Because sometimes shit happens.  Sometimes your Christmas gift to your mom goes a bit awry.  Sometimes two of your teammates are trapped in a noir movie and you need the help of the projectionist to get them out again.  And sometimes trust, decency and the ability to pull somebody out of a living tree gets rewarded with a little trust.

[ganesh]

3 hours ago, johntfs said:

4 hours ago, Cocoabean said:

Good episode, I enjoyed it. Except now we've had the library exposed to two people this season...begs the question, why?

Because sometimes shit happens. 

Or, because we're seeing why the Library has chosen multiple librarians. Maybe because the world is increasingly complex and interrelated that one librarian can't handle it all anymore. 

[lizzyp]

It does start to feel a little like they're setting up some kind of "Junior LIT" group.

[MissLucas]

I was surprised by Ezechiel's speech to Cassandra after she had drugged him (on a sidenote: as someone who finds drugging another person in jest not funny at all I really thought she had crossed a line). The show occasionally drops this scenes with lots of emotional weight that somehow feel out of tune with its normal whackiness then moves on as if nothing of consequence has happened. Only to later return to that specific moment to harvest whatever was planted there. I'm intrigued to see if this was such a scene and what sort of plot swerve it will cause.

[johntfs]

21 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I was surprised by Ezechiel's speech to Cassandra after she had drugged him (on a sidenote: as someone who finds drugging another person in jest not funny at all I really thought she had crossed a line). The show occasionally drops this scenes with lots of emotional weight that somehow feel out of tune with its normal whackiness then moves on as if nothing of consequence has happened. Only to later return to that specific moment to harvest whatever was planted there. I'm intrigued to see if this was such a scene and what sort of plot swerve it will cause.

I don't know about harvesting, but the whole "grow the fuck up already" point continued in the next episode.